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I was given a 3Gs yesterday, it was my brother's old iphone he had while living in Australia. Can I use it in New Zealand where I live?

I went to Vodafone and Telecom today... one guy told me to unlock it and another told me to jailbreak it. I have been reading threads online for the last few hours to figure it out myself but I am honestly confused.

Can someone please point me in the right direction as I am scared that I may damage it in the process of trying to fix it. All I want to use the iphone for is texting, calling, music and photos. I am not interested in connecting it to the internet.

As you probably have gathered, this all new to me so please explain what I need to do in the most basic language possible. I don't really understand all this tech terminology.

I would try popping a sim in first to see if it will work. If it doesn't then you will likely have to unlock it to get it working. Unlocking means that you are going take the phone and change the carrier that it was originally assigned to.

If your brother got it through a Telco it could well be locked to that Telco. But most phones are unlocked here in Aust, so i would first find out if it is unlocked. If it is you can use it anywhere in the world you wish too.
Will you be Staying in NZ ?? Are you in NZ now ?? (Presume you are as you went to Telecom, which we dont have in Aust)
Find out from your brother what he dod when he first got it.....
Being Non Techie i wouldnt JB it but try to get it unlocked if it is locked ....
Post back we will work it out for ya

Cheers

Dont forget to use the Reputation System if someone has helped you out !!!Arguing with a zealot is only slightly easier than tunneling through a mountain with your forehead!!!!!MoTM☆☆☆

Wow! Thank you both for replying so quickly! As you can imagine I am dying to get it up and running

I put my Vodafone (NZ) sim card in but itunes tells me "it is not a supported carrier".

Yes, I live in NZ.

My brother had it on contract with Vodafone Australia. He has since upgraded. He took it to Vodafone in Australia a few weeks ago, explained he was giving it to me in NZ and they "cleaned/cleared" it. My brother is not that tech savvy either as you can tell. Basically he said that Vodafone Australia did whatever they could do.

Yea mate sounds like it is locked to Aust Vodafone. Next step is to go into the Telco you want to connect to (vodafone) and see how much it will cost for them to unlock it for you ...
Sound like the only option for you ATM

OR JailBreak it if you have the Knowledge or Knowhow or a mate that is tech savvy lol
But for you a Unlock would be the way to go

Good luck and keep us posted

Cheers

Dont forget to use the Reputation System if someone has helped you out !!!Arguing with a zealot is only slightly easier than tunneling through a mountain with your forehead!!!!!MoTM☆☆☆

When I went into Vodafone (NZ) this morning, they were pretty unhelpful and said they couldn't advise me on anything to do with an international phone.

Who needs to unlock it - do I contact Vodafone (Aust) or can I just go to Telecom here in NZ?

Can you also point me down the JB route in case I need to do it.... I am not that familiar with iphone jargon but I am reasonably tech savvy in other areas.... I think the "firmware" terminology was confusing me the most! But I can download and install stuff easily enough.

I paid the fee and they sent me details on how to unlock the phone.... quite a long winded procedure it was. So I put my very old Vodafone sim in and connected it.... it automatically unlocked it without me having to do anything!

I rang Vodafone NZ and I just need to go and buy a new sim and then it seems I'm good to go. I will go do that now.

Thanks again, will be in contact if any other issues but it's looking promising. Enjoy your holidays TattooedMac and DaFlake

I have the same problem, however when I put my IMEI number into the link you've given I'm told they can't find my phone... I had 2 questions for you, 1. Do you need the original Sim that came with the phone to unlock it, or will any old Australian Sim do? 2. Since I cant find my phone on the unlock link, could you tell me the procedure you went through to get it unlocked?

Sorry but I'm sure you know the frustration, I have this cool phone sitting here which I simply can't use. Just wanna get it up and running as soon as possible...